Organizations (e.g., companies) are often looking for cost-effective and efficient ways to improve employee safety, health and wellness. In some instances, organizations employ workplace wellness programs to facilitate healthy lifestyles. A workplace wellness program can include, for example, organizational policies, facilities, and activities designed to encourage healthy behavior in the workplace and at home. Organizations taking part in a wellness program often provide facilities and information that support healthy lifestyles such as health literature, on-site fitness facilities, on-site medical clinics, on-site kitchens and eating areas, on-site healthy food offering and so forth. Organizations' wellness programs often involve a variety of activities, such as health fairs, health education classes, exercise classes, medical/health screenings, health coaching, weight management programs, injury prevention programs, fitness programs, and the like. In some instances, Organizations' wellness programs include organizational policies designed to facilitate a healthy work environment, such as allowing flex time for exercise, offering financial and other incentives for participation, and so forth.
It is believed that workplace wellness programs lead to a “culture of health” within a workplace that helps to prevent injury and sickness, while providing a positive impact on workforce biometric health behaviors, employee performance, and other work factors. For example, workplace wellness programs are often associated with reductions of health risks (e.g., reduced health risk associated with body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), and body fat percentage) and improved work factors (e.g., improved job satisfaction, stress management, work engagement, and productivity). Moreover, workplace wellness programs can provide a positive financial benefit for organizations. For example, companies can experience reductions in medical costs due to medical risks/conditions avoided as a result of workplace wellness programs, as well as revenue increases attributable to the improved work factors (e.g., increases productivity due to improved health, reduced stress, and the like).
In addition to improving employee health, wellness and safety, organizations are often looking for ways to operate in an energy efficient manner. This can include, for example, updating their infrastructure such as replacing energy inefficient devices with newer, more efficient models. Operating in an energy efficient manner can positively impact both the organization (e.g., by reducing operating costs associated with energy consumption) and the environment (e.g., by reducing the consumption of natural resources).
Although techniques have been developed for improving employee health, wellness and safety, and for operating in an energy efficient manner, obtaining these goals typically requires organizations to engage in two distinct campaigns—one for wellness and one for energy efficiency. For example, an organization may institute a workplace wellness program that provides on-site fitness facilities, and separately institute a campaign to update inefficient areas of their infrastructure. Although these two approaches can improve aspects of employee wellness and energy efficiency separately, they still fail to fully leverage the other aspects of the workplace that can further improve employee wellness and energy efficiency.